ASTER Plunges 20% as “Anti-CZ” Whale Scores $21M Profit On Short Bets

Core Insights - Aster (ASTER) token experienced a significant decline of over 20% in 24 hours, reversing gains from a previous rally following Binance founder Changpeng Zhao's (CZ) endorsement [1][2] - The decline has resulted in substantial unrealized profits for a trader known as the "Anti-CZ Whale," who has made over $21 million from shorting ASTER [1][3] Price Movement and Trading Activity - Following CZ's announcement of purchasing over $2 million in ASTER, the token surged from approximately $0.91 to a peak of $1.26 before sharply declining as whales increased short positions [2][3] - Aster's trading volume fell to around $1.35 billion, a decrease of 47% from the previous day, indicating reduced market activity [6] Unrealized Profits and Wallet Performance - The "Anti-CZ Whale" holds two wallets with substantial short positions in ASTER, controlling over $51 million in shorts and generating about $18.4 million in unrealized profit as the token fell below $0.90 [3][5] - One wallet, identified as 0xbadb, has an unrealized profit of $8.38 million from shorting ASTER, while the second wallet, 0x9eec9, has logged over $29 million in unrealized gains, with ASTER contributing around $14 million [4][5] Market Trends and Technical Analysis - Aster has seen a 63% decline from its all-time high, with a 13.3% drop in the past day and nearly 57% over the last 30 days [6] - CZ acknowledged his history of poor timing in crypto investments, reflecting on the market slump [7] Total Value Locked (TVL) Changes - Aster's total value locked (TVL) has decreased from $2.5 billion in early October to approximately $1.47 billion [6]